KTJNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 57. N:0 4. 205 



The author of La Pérouse's instructions, in his zeal for hunting out geographical 

 problems that ought to be solved, had come across a notice to the following effect in the 

 Philosophical Transactions for 1674: "That in the South Sea, at the 37V 2 deg. N. Lat., 

 and about 400 Spanish, or 343 Dutch miles, that is, 28 deg. Long. East of Japan, there 

 lay a very great and high island, inhabited by a white, handsom, kind and civilized people, 

 exceeding opulent in gold and silver, as had been experimented many years since by a 

 Spanish ship sailing from the Manilles to New Spaine; insomuch that the King of Spain 

 in the year 1610, or 1611, for further discovery, and to take possession of the same, set 

 out a ship from Acapulco to Japan; which by ill conduct proved successless: since which 

 time the prosecution of that discovery had been neglected". 1 The immediate source of 

 this notice was a work by Dirck Rembrantsz. van Nierop, printed at Amsterdam in 

 1674; but it is obvious that we have here a summary of Willem Verstegen's narrative 

 which led to the Dutch expeditions in search of the Gold and Silver Islands during the 

 seventeenth century. 2 



This "large, populous, and wealthy island" also La Pérouse was ordered to explore; 

 and he proceeded to this task in the course of his return-journey from Kamchatka in 1787. 

 From 14 to 22 October he steered eastward in 37° 30' K lat,, between 165° and 180° 20' 

 E. long. from Paris; he kept a very sharp look-out for land — small birds that settled on 

 the rigging constantly kept alive the hope that it would come in sight — but when the 

 stretch that had been prescribed in the instructions had been covered, the attempt had 

 to be abandoned. La Pérouse himself, however, was convinced, of the existence of land 

 in the neighbourhood of the track he pursued; and the editor of his narrative, Milet-Mureau, 

 warmly recommends a renewal of the attempt, which he considered would have the 

 greatest hope of success if made further towards the south, in 36° 30' N. lat. 3 



During the period that immediately followed, voyages in the North Pacific became 

 more and more numerous, first on account of the fur-trade between North-West America 

 and China, and some years låter on account of the profitable whale-fishery, for which 

 Hawaii soon became a much frequented port. During these voyages, of course, there was 

 no special reason to enrich the map with new discoveries, or to remove from it older and 

 incorrect ones. In this connection we have scarcely to mention anything except that, 

 on 4 April 1788, John Meares came upon two small islands to which he ga ve the name 

 Grampus Islands, and whose position he determined as 24° 44' N. lat. and 145° 41' E. 

 long., but which, having regard to his erroneous position for Lot's Wife, can quite certainly 

 not be found where these islands are placed on his chart (Fig. 24). 4 If we add that, on 23 

 August 1796, Captain William Broughton passed, without seeing land, the position of 

 Rica de Platå according to Cook's general chart, 5 we have cited everything that is of in- 

 terest to our subject from the history of discovery in the eighteenth century. 



1 Voyage de La Pérouse, I, pp. 26, 150. 



2 See above, p. 74. 



3 Voyage de La Pérouse, III, pp. 1G6 — 168. 



4 la this case text and chart agree with regard to Iatitude and longitude. See Meares, op. vit., p. 94. 



5 W. R. Broughton, op. cit., I, p. 122. 



